IoT and 5G are impractical without convergence and coexistence of
licensed and unlicensed technologies

November 23, 2016 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), in partnership with
Maravedis-Rethink, has today published its Annual Industry Report for
2016, revealing that the Internet of Things (IoT), the hyper-dense
network and 5G will not be economic or practical without the convergence
and coexistence of licensed and unlicensed technologies. Ultimately,
success will depend on unlicensed technologies working in conjunction
with licensed networks, enabling new performance levels and flexibility
for service providers of all kinds.

Each year, the WBA conducts an industry-wide survey, and puts its
findings into a report in order to update the industry on the state of
the wireless broadband market. This year’s report focuses on next
generation Wi-Fi, the need for convergence and coexistence between
unlicensed and licensed technologies, as well as the development of
connected cities and city services.

Key findings from the Annual Industry Report include:

Nearly 80% of respondents believe they will deploy Next Gen Wi-Fi by
2020, driven by the need to improve quality of experience (QoE),
reduce churn, and provide seamless access between Wi-Fi networks, and
between Wi-Fi and licensed networks

The key challenges for companies in developing and deploying wireless
services are creating a sustainable business model, ensuring QoE and
device availability

63% of respondents believe that convergence will be important to
crucial for network strategies, while 71% believe coexistence will be
important to crucial.

Operators remain a key partner for cities, compared to infrastructure
vendors or systems integrators, and are key in supporting and
providing CAPEX, OPEX, maintenance and revenue sharing or generation

Dealing with public expectations, privacy and security are concerns
and challenges for cities

Providing connectivity for city services, along with location based
services and big data analytics have increased in relevancy and
importance.

Furthermore, the WBA’s ‘Roadmap for Coexistence and Convergence in 5G’
market research also supports these findings. While 62% of respondents
believe 5G will be a combination of licensed and unlicensed
technologies, 88% of respondents believe that unlicensed spectrum
technologies are critical for the development of 5G, due to factors such
as enhanced throughput, reduced latency, better coverage and lower costs.

“There has been a long history of innovation within the Wi-Fi community,
and our latest Industry Report shows there are no signs of this slowing
down,” said Shrikant Shenwai, CEO of the WBA. “5G, smart cities, Wi-Fi
and convergence and coexistence between licensed and unlicensed
technologies are going to play a huge role in the development of
networks and in turn, deliver better services for the consumer.”

Founded in 2003, the mission of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is
to champion the development of the converged wireless broadband
ecosystem through seamless, secure and interoperable unlicensed wireless
broadband services for delivering outstanding user experience. Building
on our heritage of NGH and carrier Wi-Fi, WBA will continue to drive and
support the adoption of Next Generation Wi-Fi services need coexistence
and convergence of unlicensed and licensed networks across the entire
public Wi-Fi ecosystem, including IoT, Big Data, Converged Services,
Smart Cities, 5G, etc. Today, membership includes major fixed operators
such as BT, Comcast and Time Warner Cable; seven of the top 10 mobile
operator groups (by revenue) and leading technology companies such as
Cisco, Microsoft, Huawei Technologies, Google and Intel. WBA member
operators collectively serve more than 2 billion subscribers and operate
more than 30 million hotspots globally.

Maravedis-Rethink is a premier wireless infrastructure analyst firm. We
focus on broadband wireless technologies (including LTE, WiMAX, small
cells, core and backhaul) as well as industry spectrum regulations and
operator trends. Since 2002, Maravedis and Rethink Research have
provided clients worldwide with strategic insight to help them achieve
key business objectives. Clients can access Maravedis- Rethink’
technology, spectrum and market intelligence through subscription-based
research services which include disruptive reports, webinars and online
databases, analyst support and briefings as well as custom consulting
engagements.